Komga vs Readest
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-books & media library options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Komga
Media server for comics, manga and e-books
VS
Readest
Cross-platform ebook reader with sync server
| Feature | Komga | Readest |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 97 · Excellent |
| Category | E-books & Media Library | E-books & Media Library |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Kotlin | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,688 | ★ 24,565 |
| First released | 2019 | 2024 |
| Replaces | ComiXology, Kindle | Kindle, Apple Books |
What are Komga and Readest?
Komga
Komga is a self-hosted media server focused on comics, manga, BD, and e-books with a clean web reader and OPDS support. It targets comic and manga collectors. It is deployed via Docker.
- Comic and manga focused
- Web reader with OPDS
- Metadata and collections
- REST API
Readest
Readest is an open-source ebook reader with a self-hostable sync server for keeping reading progress and annotations consistent across devices. It supports EPUB and other common formats.
- Cross-device progress sync
- EPUB and PDF support
- Annotations and highlights
- Self-hostable sync server
Komga vs Readest: key differences
Komga is written in Kotlin, while Readest is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Komga versus AGPL-3.0 for Readest. Komga is the more established project (first released 2019), while Readest arrived in 2024. Readest has the considerably larger community, at 24,565 GitHub stars versus 6,688.
Why pick each one
Choose Komga if…
- Excellent for comics
- Good metadata handling
- OPDS for apps
Watch out for
- Less ideal for plain e-books
- Niche focus
Choose Readest if…
- Clean modern interface
- Cross-device sync
- Multiple format support
Watch out for
- Relatively young project
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Komga or Readest better?
Neither is universally better. Readest has the larger community, while Komga is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Komga and Readest free and open-source?
Yes. Komga is licensed under MIT and Readest under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Komga and Readest with Docker?
Komga: yes. Readest: yes.